Welcome to Whitken & Co.! We are a design studio and lifestyle blog based in Anderson, SC. Our goal is to help you create a beautiful functional, and healing home for you and your family to live, work, play in, and share with others.

First of all, guys, I'm sorry for slacking this week. I wasn't really slacking, but with Christmas and work this week's mood board didn't happen or the second half of the post on choosing colors for your home. We've decided to wait until after Christmas to continue both of those things so that we can A) do a good job on them. I want to put out content that is really helpful for you rather than mediocre, and I can promise you it will be so much better if I don't just slap something up here now for the sake of posting. And B) This time of year is a special and short season and I want to focus on enjoying the process of preparation and spending time with family and friends. We'll still be posting, just on a lighter scale and we'll be back in full swing in January!

I hope you guys are enjoying this season. I know it can be busy and stressful. When I start feeling the anxiety creeping in, I've been working on stopping for a a couple of minutes and focusing on breathing (literally) and focusing on something I'm grateful for. Usually whatever I'm stressing about is related to something I'm grateful for. Switching my focus and quieting the anxiety is a work in progress, but taking those short moments to reset is helping.

Anywhoobs, here's this week's 5 which is actually 7 if you're counting the links! I'd love to hear about anything good or funny that you've come across lately. Feel free to leave them in the comments or email me at whitkenandco@gmail.com. I really do love hearing from you guys!

1. These salted milk chocolate and peanut butter blondies look ah-mazing! And I want to make them before this year is up. We're transitioning to a low-carb diet, because as much as I love carbs and they love me evidenced by how they hang onto my body and never leave, I think that it's time we went our separate ways. At least for a little while.

2. Everything about this room by Park & Oak Design is perfect. The color palette is perfect. The textures are perfect. The moldings on the walls. It's all just so good. All the heart eyes as the cool kids say.

3. If you still have Christmas cookies to make these mint chocolate chip cookies look and sound amazing! Uh, why does there have to be so many cookies and desserts at Christmas time?! I want them all.

4. Creating a home is about so much more than crafting a beautiful space. Your home is a reflection of who you are and and who you want to be. Will and Susan Brinson, one of my favorite bloggers and Instagrammers to follow, have a great post on how to share your own personal story through the design of your home. They're design philosophy is similar to what we try to inspire here at Whitken & Co.. Susan also wrote this post when she was trying to narrow down the style for their home, Stoneyford, which is a huge historical home that they moved into after living in a studio apartment in NYC. There's no pictures in her post for a reason, and I loved getting a glimpse into her thought process in the design of her home.

5. This little video has me in stitches and is a good picture of how I feel most days about work and life in general. Raise your hand if you can relate because I have a feeling you probably can. ;)